onlinefreedom August 8, 2018If you’re interested in e-commerce, then you undoubtedly heard of drop shipping. Don’t know much about it? Here’s a quick recap:
In short, dropshipping consists of selling products via a partnership with a third-party supplier or manufacturer — you provide the order information and they hold and ship the products. Unbeknownst to many, the drop-shipping model is one of the most successful strategies relating to e-commerce.
However, just like any business model, your success is derived from what you put into it. In the world of drop shipping, this means you need to understand how to drive traffic and sales
Below, are five simple tips that will help you optimize your conversions, ensuring a successful business adventure.
1. Use high-quality photos and imagery to market your products
Think about it: would you feel comfortable purchasing an item online that’s accompanied by poor, unprofessional looking photographs?
Professional looking images make the customer feel reassured they are buying a product they can trust. You have a standard to uphold — not a single one of your customers should receive a product that doesn’t match your descriptions and photographs. That will only quickly lead to a tarnished reputation on your end. Keep in mind, this is not without obstacles: should your supplier not use pixel-perfect stock photos, it’s your responsibility to request product samples to photograph yourself. Try experimenting with the angles and lighting to achieve the professional look you and your customers’ desire.
Consider including product videos: Product videos are a good way to stand out from the crowd. Currently, product videos now appear in over 70% of product-related search results and studies show that potential buyers are 64-85% more likely to make a purchase when a product is accompanied by a descriptive video. Furthermore, landing page videos have ben proven to have the ability to boost conversion rates by a whopping 80%.
Be sure to place your videos strategically, on individual product pages for the best results. Remember, the closer your videos to conversion points, the more sales you will drive.
2. Put In The Research
Product-Market-Fit is one of the most important concepts for your e-commerce business, especially in regards to your conversion rate. The concept consists of two steps:
- Determining how well your products match the market demand
- Determining how well they sell
Don’t be afraid to experiment with your marketing campaigns to determine what products your customers are interested in. To do this, simply feature differing products on your landing page and closely monitor the traffic and sales. Keep an open mind and follow the trends.
A great way to achieve positive results is by identifying and solving customer pain points. How can you make the customer’s experience more enjoyable and simple? What popular products offer relieving qualities? How can your products help your customers? This can be a little tricky — sometimes the best solution may be hiring a talented copywriter for your product descriptions and adding a little flair to your landing page.
If you’re a competent writer, then go ahead and conduct some keyword research of your own. Survey your customers to determine how you can better assist them. Experiment and trust the results, the customers, and your gut.
3. Develop a high-functioning, on-site search engine
This is crucial and cannot be overstated: if you’re using a poor search engine, customers will leave your site in droves and flock to your competition.
As was mentioned before: consumers are looking for speed and efficiency. They don’t have time to scroll through unrelated merchandise in order to find what they are looking for; they want accurate and intuitive suggestions and results. Studies show that e-commerce shops with high-functioning search engines see upwards of an 82% improvement in regards to their conversion rates – that’s massive.
Machine learning techniques are capable of identifying and correcting typos, processing synonyms and highlighting related products. This technology needs to be taken advantage of.
—Note: If you’re looking for state-of-the-art results, consider introducing a voice- search feature and invest in some image recognition tech.
By the end of 2020, it is estimated that nearly 50% of all searches will be voice initiated. A voice search can yield some impressive results. Instead of generic keywords, like “men’s dress shirts”, customers can now audibly make a detailed request, for example: “find me a white oxford dress shirt for my husband”.
4. Scrutinize your shipping cost strategy
Picture this scenario: one of your customers finds three dress shirts they absolutely love, all for a very reasonable price; however, once they go to the checkout page, they are hit with massive additional shipping fees. Suddenly, those amazingly low prices don’t seem very low at all — cancel the order.
This happens all of the time. If you notice a high exit rate occurring on your shipping calculator page, then you need to make some serious adjustments.
Here are a few solutions to get you back in the game:
Free shipping: A massive attention-grabber. It’s a fact: nine out of ten customers agree that free shipping is the number-one incentive that keeps them online shopping. Naturally, this can affect your profits, but you can work around this by granting free shipping after the customer spends a specific amount or purchases a specified number of products.
Flare rate: Easily incorporate this strategy as a calculated way of managing your expenditures. Keep in mind: this solution requires preparation, as you must determine your average cost of shipping per package. This is good practice in general and you should be doing it, either way, to avoid over or undercharging your customers.
Charge fairly: Don’t be greedy, this will only lead to fewer sales. Use a real-time calculator so your customers can see for themselves that you are being honest with your shipping practices. This way, you will win plenty of trust amongst your patrons.
—Be sure to speak often with your supplier to ensure both of you are on the same page in regard to shipping options and fees. Be sure to supply your customers with a delivery-time-window so they are not left in the dark, wondering when their package will arrive.
5. Utilize effective calls to action
Your website copy is the foundation of your website and brand. It’s what attracts and drives customers to seek out your landing page and make a purchase. Solid copywriting sets the tone, vibrantly describes your products and gives potential customers that extra push they sometimes need to finalize a purchase.
Your website copy should be informative, emotion-evoking, and should instill long-lasting trust amongst your customers. There is a lot more to good sales copy than just words and flare. It should be carefully researched to ensure attention and trust and to drive sales. Again, if this is something you are concerned about, you should seriously consider hiring a talented copywriter who can tick all the boxes.
—Make sure you understand the importance of calls to action and implement them subtly throughout your landing page text and product listings.
Conclusion
There is stiff competition out there. If you want to stay ahead of the game, then you may need to consider making some changes. Take our advice, implement the above strategies and soon, your competition will be visiting your landing page, looking for tips.
